Cultural Diversity: Speaking in Switzerland, South Africa and the UK

As a motivational speaker I am often asked to build bridges between the diversity that exists in just one organisation. The experience of travelling to various countries and mingling with different cultures is invaluable in connecting with audiences, and ensuring successful outcomes. It is always refreshing to immerse yourself into environments that are very different from your own.

Not that long ago I spoke in Geneva, a global financial city, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy. This is due to its presence of international organizations such as the Red Cross and many of the United Nations agency headquarters. It beautiful and orderly, forms the confluence of the Rhone and Arve Rivers, and is surrounded by majestic snow capped Alpine mountains. As someone heralding from a far more chaotic and noisy environment, such perfect and quiet efficiency is more than a little unnerving. In my mind it is comparable only to time spent speaking in Frankfurt, Germany. (I began my speaking career in London and cities around South Africa, noisy hubbubs where experiencing the unexpected is just par for the course.)

The initial culture shock reaction of a fumbling Bridget Jones has never quite left me when stepping out into such graceful perfection. Worst is the airport checkout queue. All around manicured businessmen and women elegantly slide off their expensive watches, jewellery, belts, shoes and coats whilst showcasing laptops, and software devices, before smartly sauntering through the metal detectors and somehow re adorning their bodies a nano second later. It is a remarkable feat, and one I cannot hope to compete with. My solution is one laptop, slip-on shoes and a huge smile, and yet the zippers on my coat still gets snagged.

Whilst unnerved by the surrounding perfection, the upside is you can almost certainly cast aside any worries about technical failures whilst presenting. If anything less than perfect does occur, the confidence of having experienced just about every technical failure imaginable despite meticulous pre-event planning and dry runs, means you can move on unfazed, and sometimes command greater respect.

Another big difference is cultural acceptance for ‘noise levels’. For instance, sound effects including music in Southern Africa are usually enjoyed at a much higher volume than many European countries I have spoken in. This is rather important to ‘get right’ as you can equally enliven or turn off an audience completely by a damp-squid drum roll or an unexpected, eardrum-shattering cacophony.

Understanding nuances in humor is probably the thing that concerns speakers most. It can take many years to master and it is safe to say that a range of humorous phrases, and styles are required so you can select the most appropriate remarks for the occasion. Hopefully you have a chance to test a few out prior to pitting yourself against the bright lights and a packed auditorium.

There is of course so much more to understanding the culture and diversity of different audiences, organisations and countries and what is acceptable and appreciated in each. Sharing these important life lessons on diversity is now becoming an equally important aspect to many of the presentations I deliver. – I never imagined those funny but embarrassing moments may actually come back as a revisit to help others. I am pleased they have some worth other than just turning my face the colour of a tomato.